The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1887-07-08
ENoLAND's TRADE.

EN0LAND's TRADE.
Its Steady Decline Due Eatirsly to .
Seml-Frse- Trade Policy.
A very interesting and suggestive
article on the Panama and Suez canals
has lately appeared in Swiss period
ical, entitled the Revue Suisse, pub
lished in Geneva. 1t is written by one
Max Hoffman, who. If one is to Judge
by his name, ought to be . German,
and consequently not very much dis
posed to give undue praise to French
enterprises. or to say any thing about
the decline of English commerce that
would not be true. The article in
question maintains that the Panama
canal will be a great success; that it
will probably be ready for the passage
of vessels within two years; that it will
be the greatest benefit the general
commerce of the world has ever yet
received, and that England will not be
the only nation that will receive adj
vantagcs from it.
It is generally believed that En-
glands commercial prosperity is still
as great as ever IL was, and that tho
Sucz canal has in measure turned out
to be useful only to England; but Mr..
Hoffman has shown that this idea is
entirely fallacious. He gives facts and
figures which prove that England is
rapidly losing her hold on the COM
merce of the world. We translate
some of the most interesting and in
structivc part of Mr.. Hoffman's article
relating to the commerce on the Suez
canal: by consulting the statistics of
the transit by the Suez canal we find
that in 1884 the traffic under the En-
glish flag had fallen to IS per cent of
the total. while the traffic of the other
nations had risen from 10 per cent. in
the beginning to 25 per cent. in 1884.
If we mention the traffic by the Sucz
canal first it is because it is a reflec.
ton of the situation in general Since
1874 England. in the general commerce
of the world. has coded Al per cent. of
it to her opponents. In 1867 and 1868
the total exports of Europe amounted
10 eight thousand millions of dollars.
of which two thousand five hundred
millions belonged to England. or about
81 per cent; the surplus. say 65 per
cent, belonged to the continent Of Eu-
rope. In 1882 the exports of England
had fallen to 90 per cent of the Eu-
ropean exports; this has caused Neu-
man-Spcllart to say. when speaking of
these things last year, that at this time
the axis of English commerce has been
displaced. There was time when no
one could fight against the giant,
whose business embraced the COM
merce of the globe, the colonies, the
countries rich in coal, textile fabrics
and chemical productions.
The Rerue Suisse gees on to show
that for some years after the opening
of the Suez canal. ships carrying the
English flag formed 80 per cent. Of
those that passed through it. In 1884
they had fallen to IS per cent, and at
present it is calculated that they have
fallen to under 20 per cent. If it were
not for England's hold on unfortunate
India and having forced her manu-
features on the natives of that country,
her trade on to that of France, or some
other country of continental Europe.
In spite of the fact that England
bought up all the Suez canal shares
owned by the Khedive of Egypt. which
wese about 40 per cent. of the entire.
it is satisfactory to find that her com.
merce on that waterway is not only
not increasing, but steadily diminish
ing. England has. in fact, ceased te
be 1.-THE weaver of the world as John
Mitchell once called her. She has
found that other nations can weave
rs well as she can, and that in fair
competition with other nations she IL
almost always beaten and driven out
of the market. Her conquest of Bur-
NAH had for its principal object the
forcing of her manufactures on the
natives Of that country.
We would like to call the attention
of England's free-trade allies in thi.
country to the facts given by Mr.. Hof:
man in the ReUuc Suisse. Those allies
of hers are everlastingly pointing to
her as the paragon nation. which, un-
der system of free trade. has reached
such gigantic prosperity. They should
remember that England manufacture.
not only got start. but we're built up
under high protective tariff; but
above all they should remember. that
since England has adopted her semi
frce-trade present system. she has been
losing ground; and they should also
that England's commerce is
largely dependent on her conquests.
With her it is the sword first and cotton
cloth after. She has nearly three hun
dred millions Of subjects in India whose
native industries she has destroyed,
and whom she has compelled to buy
her wares or to 60 naked. A nation
that has, in one country alone, nearly
three hundred millions Of people de-
pending on her for almost every manu-
featured necessity Of life, may well
afford to talk about free trade; but the
greater part of England's trade is not
free trade. but forced trade. Were
India freed from British bondage. En-
glands commercial prosperity would
soon be over.-Chicago Citizen.
Protection and Wages.
The first result of free trade wo, ID
be cut in wages all around. in order To